Somehow, it always seemed like they ended up in Xian Du. Which was fine, Jude thought, because it was a pretty nice city after all, but still. The world wasn't about to save itself. He had to admit that it was nice to catch a break after all that travelling through temporal rifts, and after visiting his parents one last time, he felt readier than ever to go face Gaius. They would set off tomorrow, he vowed to himself. But for now...
Jude looked up from the book he was failing to read, glancing around the room at his companions. Leia was sitting on the floor with Elize, teaching her how to play jacks. Rowen was sitting at the desk, writing a letter—probably to Driselle. And there was Milla, sitting cross-legged on the bed with her hands relaxed on her thighs, deep in meditation. Her hair fluttered gently in the wind coming in from the window, and Jude couldn't help but smile to himself. Then his brow furrowed. He glanced around again. Where was Alvin? Jude sighed. Not again...
He returned to his book with a frown. Old habits died hard, he supposed, and after everything that had happened with Isla over the last few days, the mercenary had a right to some alone time. But how on Rieze Maxia was he supposed to make his way back into everyone's good graces if he kept acting as suspiciously as he always used to?
Jude shook his head. There he went, off on a tangent of worrying...he tried to put it firmly aside, concentrating on the letters on the page. For a while he succeeded, before he came upon a passage mentioning Maxwell and his mind turned inexorably to Milla. What was going to happen to her? Would she still be here, when it was all over? Either way, it had to be done, but...
His thoughts were interrupted by the door slamming open noisily and Alvin striding in.
"Hey, folks, you're all looking lively this evening," he greeted cheerfully.
Elize and Leia clamboured to their feet. "And just where the heck have you been?" Leia asked, hands on her hips.
"You better not have been doing anything weird!" Said Teepo, mirroring Elize's suspicious expression.
Alvin threw up his hands in surrender. "Ouch, hey, where's the love? I wasn't up to anything this time, honest truth!"
Leia didn't look convinced. "Oh yeah? Then what were you up to, Mr. Truthful?"
Alvin sighed theatrically and shook his head. "Just taking a look around the town, seeing what's going on. There's a big tournament on at the Coliseum tomorrow, what do you say we all join in?"
Jude stood up. "What? But we have to leave tomorrow!"
Alvin crossed the room to sling an arm over Jude's shoulders. "C'mon, kid, don't be a wet blanket. What's one more day? How about the old man and the kid, don't you think we've been running them a little too ragged lately?"
Jude made a frustrated noise. Yeah, it was true, probably everyone could use some extra rest. His inner med student was calculating how many hours of sleep they'd averaged over the last few weeks and coming up too short for healthy. "Well...I..."
Over by the door, Leia was twisting her foot and looking thoughtful. "Well, we are running low on supplies...it's not like a little extra gald ever hurt," she said. "Plus, wouldn't it be kind of fun? We never do any fun stuff these days."
Rowen nodded sagely. "Indeed, a competition might offer us a valuable opportunity to evauate our skills without risking our lives. It would be well worth considering."
Jude sighed, shrugging off Alvin's arm and crossing his own. "Come on, we're always fighting. Now you want to do it for fun? Can't we find something a little less violent to do together?"
Milla, who had been silent up until then, spoke. "No, I agree with Rowen. This may be a good chance to prepare ourselves for the battle ahead."
Jude turned to her in surprise. She had barely moved an inch other than to open her eyes, her expression, as usual, showing not even a hint of hesitation. Jude doubted he'd get any support there, and his arms dropped to his sides in defeat. "Okay, then. One more day couldn't hurt...I guess," he conceded reluctantly.
Alvin clapped him on the back and laughed. "Atta boy! And oh yeah, forgot to mention. It's a two day tournament."
Jude sighed.
"What are the prizes, anyway?" asked Leia.
"Prize money, like usual." Alvin shrugged. "And, I heard, two tickets for a wyvern ride around the Mon Highlands. Plus, you know. Some other stuff."
"Other stuff?" said Jude skepticallly.
"Yup."
"A wyvern ride? Whoa!" exclaimed Leia, interrupting any further questioning. "Now I really want to enter!"
"As I recall, you were holding on rather tightly the last time we went riding on wyverns," said Rowen. He chuckled. "A young lady, gripping the back of one's jacket as if holding on for dear life...it was enough to make even this geezer's heart race."
"But in the end, it was really cool. At least until we got attacked by that huge thing," said Leia, tapping a finger to her chin in thought.
"Um, what kind of tournament is it going to be?" asked Elize, clutching Teepo to her chest.
"Doubles," said Alvin. "Two on two. Works out perfect for us, huh?"
"Are you proposing that we enter as three teams of two?" said Rowen.
Alvin shrugged. "Sure, why not. It triples the odds of us winning."
"Is that really fair, though?" Jude wondered aloud.
"Don't be a spoilsport, Jude," cried Leia, suddenly looking all fired up. "As long as we're not throwing matches or anything, who cares if we split the prize!"
"So we're all agreed to enter?" said Milla, surveying the room. "Good."
"Now we gotta decide the teams!" gushed Leia.
Jude couldn't help it. His eyes went to Milla immediately. Would it be too forward to ask her outright to partner up? What if she wanted to team up with someone else? He glanced away, feeling his cheeks flush. Somehow he'd been able to find the resolve to fight Gaius, but he couldn't even manage this? It was ridiculous.
And like so many times before, Milla cut through his hesitation in an instant. "Jude, would you like to fight with me?" she asked, before anyone else could speak.
His attention snapped back to her. "Y-yes! I mean, sure."
Milla smiled. "Excellent."
Jude's heart fluttered, but the moment was broken by Leia's cry of "All right then!" She marched across the room and grabbed Rowen's hand. "Rowen, you're the super unbeatable Conductor, right? You'll team up with me, won't you?" she said sweetly.
Rowen placed his other hand on top of hers and gave a slight bow. "Miss Leia, I would be honored to fight alongside you."
Leia leapt back and pumped her fist in the air excitedly. "All right! There's no way we're going to lose!"
Himself and Milla, Leia and Rowen, Jude thought, so that meant...
"Looks like you're stuck with me, kid," said Alvin, running a hand through his hair.
Teepo floated out of Elize's arms and began flying in circles around Alvin's head. "We're teaming up with the liar, we're teaming up with the liar," he sang.
Alvin swatted at the doll halfheartedly. "Yeah, yeah. I know. I'm not really anyone's first choice."
"That's okay, Elize doesn't mind!" said Teepo cheerfully.
Elize jumped to her feet. "Teepo!" she scolded, blushing faintly.
Jude laughed, relieved that the teams had sorted themselves out so easily. He turned to Alvin. "So should we go sign up?"
With his characteristic lopsided grin, Alvin threw a mock salute his way. "No worries, I already talked with the organizer. All we have to do is show up."
Elize puffed her cheeks out angrily. "You're being sneaky again," she accused.
"Hey, if you said no, all I would have had to do was walk back over and cancel," Alvin said.
Elize ducked her head, apparently mollified by this answer. Across the room Jude spotted Leia grabbing her staff from against the wall and letting loose a few experimental swings, wearing a look of concentration that Jude knew all too well. He sighed. Ever since a patron of her parents' inn had let slip that Master Sonia had won a few battles in the Coliseum in her time, Leia's enthusiasm about fighting in the battles there had reached almost tangible levels.
"Miss Leia...perhaps this isn't the best place to practice your combat abilities," Rowen said diplomatically, as her staff narrowly avoided colliding with a wall-lamp.
"Huh?" she said, pausing mid-swing and lowering her staff sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I guess I should probably go outside..." suddenly, her eyes went wide. She's got an idea, Jude thought, just before she exclaimed, "I've got it! We can go up to one of those rooftop plaza places and do some secret strategizing!"
"Er, well, I was going to finish writing this letter," said Rowen, rather taken aback at this outburst.
"You can finish that later. C'mon, it's getting late, and we need to come up with a plan of attack!"
Not even Rowen could say no to Leia's forceful enthusiasm, it seemed. The older man sighed and put the unfinished letter aside. "Very well. Would you care to lead the way, Miss Leia?"
"Heck yeah!" she said, throwing open the door. "Let's go!"
"Huh," said Alvin, after they had gone. "Not looking forward to facing down that in the arena."
"Tell me about it," said Jude wryly.
"Well, I really only dropped by to tell all of you about the tournament, so if you don't mind I'll be taking off again," said Alvin, moving towards the door.
"W-wait," said Elize, clutching Teepo. "Can I come with you?"
Alvin paused, surprise flickering across his face. Finally, he shrugged. "Whatever you want, kid."
Elize nodded, turning to Milla and Jude to wave goodbye before hurrying out the door after him.
The room suddenly felt much smaller, despite the dramatic decrease in its occupants. The only ones left were Jude and Milla, who unfolded her legs from under her and moved to sit on the side of the bed, her expression thoughtful.
"Is something on your mind?" asked Jude.
"This tournament...this is something you humans do for fun, yes?"
Jude scratched his head. "Well, yes...but it's not really a normal thing to do for fun."
"What do you mean?" Milla asked.
"Normally we just play games. Or go out, I guess."
Milla nodded. "The children in Nia Khera often played games. But I'm not sure I fully understand what 'going out' entails."
Jude found himself, not for the first time since the start of their journey, struggling to explain a concept so universal that it defied description. "Well...it's doing things like going out for dinner, or taking a walk, or going shopping."
"Ah, yes. I went shopping in Sharilton with Elize and Driselle, once. It was an enjoyable experience."
"Yeah. Having fun is really just enjoying yourself. It doesn't really matter what you're doing. Even just talking can be fun."
Milla inclined her head. "Is this conversation we're having 'fun', then?"
It was a surprisingly difficult question to answer. "Are you enjoying it?" he asked in return.
Milla closed her eyes in thought. "Yes," she said. "I do enjoy talking to you, Jude."
He could feel his face heating up. "I—I like talking to you too, Milla."
"Is that so? I'm glad. I know this isn't part of my mission, but I wanted to experience fun with you all before this is over," said Milla, smiling gently.
A heavy weight seemed to press down on Jude's chest. Before this is over. "But didn't we have a lot of fun times along the way?" he said, in an effort to lighten the mood. He racked his brain for a happy memory. "Remember the time we had to chase a rappig all around the Mon Highlands?"
"Yes, I remember. Elize tripped into a snowbank and you had to dig her out," Milla said.
"I think it was the only time I've seen Alvin take off his coat aside from going to sleep," said Jude. "It was practically a blanket on her."
"I seem to recall an incident with Leia as well."
Jude laughed. "She never does watch where she's going. I could have told her that ice was too thin to walk on. Good thing she has that staff, or she might have actually fallen in." He paused. "Now that I think about it, that was a pretty smart rappig."
Milla nodded gravely. "Indeed. It led us into potentially dangerous situations no less than four times."
"Yeah, it took us almost the whole day to catch it!"
"So, that is what you'd call fun?"
"Maybe not at the time," said Jude, "but looking back on it, it was pretty funny. If there's a memory you can think fondly of, you can say it was fun."
"I see," said Milla. "In that case, much of our journey has been fun indeed."
"Yeah," said Jude, smiling, "I think you're right about that."
Alvin took big steps. Elize scurried in his wake, trying to keep up in the midst of the bustling streets of Xian Du.
"Hey, slow down, big guy!" Teepo cried at him, as Elize tripped over an uneven cobblestone and stumbled.
He looked over his shoulder. "You're the one who insisted on coming along," he said.
Elize stared at her feet, blinking hard to keep tears from forming. Why was Alvin being so mean?
"Don't be a jerk," said Teepo, zooming in close to Alvin's face. "Elize is just trying to be nice 'cause you're acting all mopey lately."
Elize's head snapped up. "Teepo, stop it!" she cried, grabbing him and covering his mouth with both hands. When she looked at Alvin, he had turned all the way around to face her and was looking strangely contrite.
"Sorry. I've got a lot on my mind lately," he said, reaching over to ruffle her hair.
"Is it because of your mommy?" Elize asked shyly.
Alvin sighed, staring off somewhere into the distance. "Things never turn out the way you expect them to, kid."
She didn't really understand what he meant by that, but when he started walking again it was slow enough for her to keep up. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see," Alvin replied cryptically, shooting her a smile.
After another elevator and six more staircases, Elize was having trouble keeping her breathing under control. "Are we...almost...there?" she panted, staggering up a particularly long flight of stairs in a tunnel through the cliffside.
"This is hard," wailed Teepo, who she had since released to float in the air behind her. "This place goes up forever!"
"Did you know in this city there's a ghost who appears to children who complain too much and pushes them down the stairs?" said Alvin. "They just fall down and down and down, all the way to the ground..."
"That's a lie! You're making it up!" cried Elize, although Teepo let out a yelp of fear.
Alvin laughed. "Don't blame me if you wind up falling."
Elize went quiet, too afraid to speak up. Teepo didn't have any such reservations. "I don't wanna fall, the ground looks like a million miles away!"
"Well, if you're good, maybe I'd even consider catching you," said Alvin, reaching the top of the staircase. "Look, we made it. The best view in the city."
Elize trudged up the last few stairs and stopped dead in amazement at the sight that met her eyes. A narrow platform stretched in front of her, built into the cliffside high above Xian Du, higher even than the Coliseum, which she could see below. The light of the setting sun washed over the city, making the yellow rock shine like gold, with a sky full of fire hanging over it.
"It's so beautiful," whispered Elize, gingerly approaching the railing. Far below, people dotted the streets, like the ants she used to play with in Hamil when they invaded her room.
"Everything looks so tiny," said Teepo. "It's like we're at the top of Rieze Maxia!"
Alvin gave a short laugh as he came up beside Elize to lean on the railing. "Yeah, pretty much. I used to come here all the time."
"Why?" asked Elize, looking up at him curiously. "It's a really long walk."
"Closest place to Elympios," he replied, tipping his head back to look at the sky. "I even brought Mom here once, back before she was stuck in bed all the time."
Elize followed his gaze. "It's still really far away, though," she said.
"Yeah."
Teepo floated back into Elize's arms, and she gave him a squeeze, unsure of what to say next. "It's too bad she didn't get to go back with you," she said after a while.
"They couldn't have done anything for her," he said, shaking his head. "And besides...she was already there in her memories." Suddenly, he cursed and dropped his head. "Damn it. Why the hell was I so eager to go back there, anyway?"
Elize thought of Elympios, of the spirit-drained world filled with spyrix machines that sucked its life away bit by bit. It wasn't a very nice place, sure, but home was home, wasn't it? "I wanted to visit the house in the Mon Highlands, even though I didn't remember it at all," she said. "Because it was my home."
"Home, huh." Alvin looked back up. "I guess so. It's in pretty rough shape now, though."
"That's why Milla and Jude and all of us are gonna beat up Gaius and make it all better!" Teepo piped up.
"And then you can go and visit Balan again," Elize added cheerfully.
"Man, what's with you two today? When did you become my personal cheer squad?" Alvin shook his head in exasperation, but Elize caught sight of the smile tugging at his mouth.
"Like I said, it's because you're all mopey," Teepo said.
"Is it that obvious? I must be losing my touch."
"It's suuuper obvious. You're like, the most obvious person ever," Teepo told him.
Alvin rubbed at his face tiredly. "I don't even get to be miserable in peace without taking flak from a puppet," he muttered.
"Teepo's not a puppet!" Elize cried, stomping her foot.
"Alright, alright," Alvin said. "Well, consider your mission accomplished, little lady." He threw his arms wide. "Look, no more moping. You happy?"
She watched him suspiciously. "Are you lying?"
Alvin laughed. "No. I really do feel better," he said, then reached over to ruffle her hair again. "Thanks, kid."
Elize blushed, ducking her head. "It was nothing," she said.
"So," said Alvin, turning to lean with his back against the railing, arms crossed. "Do you want to talk shop? We better think of a strategy for the arena tomorrow or we're going to get beat out by Leia and the geezer."
"No way," said Teepo, wriggling excitedly in Elize's arms. "We're gonna beat everyone!"
"That's the spirit," said Alvin with a grin.
"Okay, so what's the plan?" demanded Leia, bouncing from foot to foot. She had finally found a good area to train, a broad, empty terrace tucked away near a side street.
Rowen stroked his beard. "I think it would be best if you fought on the front lines, allowing me to support you with artes while you attack. In fact, using your speed to avoid taking damage would be your best course of action, attacking while the enemy's guard is down or when they are confounded by an arte."
Leia scratched her head. "Sooo, run around on the front lines a lot? Sure, I can handle that. No problem."
"It may be for the best if you limit your healing as well. I'm afraid I'm not much good at close range fighting, so you must play that role. There won't be much time for you to cast."
"No healing artes? Are you sure that's really okay?" asked Leia.
"Sometimes a good offence is the best defense," Rowen said sagely.
"Got it. Attack, attack, attack!" Leia swung her staff in a well-rehearsed pattern. "Hi-yah!"
"Very good, Miss Leia. You must be sure not to let your guard down. We won't be able to afford taking any unessessary damage with just the two of us."
"It'll be weird fighting without Jude and everyone," Leia sighed. "Heck, it'll be even weirder fighting against them!"
"Fighting your companions is an excellent way to gauge your abilities," said Rowen. "Why, Nachtigal and I used to spar together often back in the day."
"Oh yeah? Who had the most wins?"
"Nachtigal certainly had the edge in strength," said Rowen, stroking his beard in thought. "But even back then I had a few tricks up my sleeve. It was a fearsome competition, between the two of us. Our battles became known throughout Rashugal as 'the dueling duet'."
"Are you serious?" asked Leia, eyes wide.
"Indeed I am. Though, I would have to credit the most wins to Princess Carrie. Neither of us stood a chance once she got it in her head to stop us. She did hate to see us fighting, even if it was in sport."
"I just can't believe you could take on that guy one-on-one. I mean, geez, I don't even think I could fight Elize to a draw."
"Now, now" chided Rowen. "Don't sell yourself short. Of all the dangers we've encountered along the way, you've pulled through just as well as the rest of us."
Leia leaned on her staff. "That's because you all are always there to save my butt," she said.
Rowen smiled. "I'm sure the rest of us could say the same."
Leia didn't feel convinced. Milla was as unstoppable as a force of nature (and she kind of literally was one), Elize and Teepo could wipe the floor with her pithy healing artes any day of the week, Rowen was the Conductor and a master channeler to boot, Alvin swung around a sword as tall as she was with one hand, and Jude was...Jude.
She sighed, letting her whole upper body drop with it, then taking a deep breath and sprung back upright. "I'm not going to lose this time," she vowed. "I'm even going to beat Jude and Milla!"
Rowen was watching her shrewdly. "Forgive me for prying," he said, "but you wanted to participate with Jude, didn't you?"
Leia began waving her free hand in embarassment. "Uh..." she stammered. "Well, I mean...it's not like I don't want you for a partner or anything..."
"Oh, I take no offense," said Rowen. "And I'm sure that Jude meant none by picking Milla. It's becoming quite difficult to separate those two, isn't it?"
"No kidding," said Leia, the familiar discouragement creeping up in her chest. Was it jealousy? Jude never looked at her the way he looked at Milla, that was for sure.
"Ah, yes, young love," said Rowen nostalgically. "I'm afraid there's no right answer when it comes to love. It's one of life's most difficult riddles to solve."
"But the answer's right there," said Leia, thinking of Jude's smile, his laugh, his stupid girly handwriting, the way he neatly arranged the food on his plate...
"There are many different forms of love," said Rowen. "Unfortunately, it's not always that both parties feel the same kind of affection."
"Are you saying that Jude's never gonna love me?" asked Leia, hating how small her voice sounded.
Rowen shook his head. "No, but I will say that for all the things you two have accomplished, you are still very young."
"I'm fifteen!" said Leia. "That's practically an adult, right?"
"Sometimes I wonder if I can consider myself an adult," said Rowen. "It's a difficult thing to come to terms with."
"Huh? No way! You're like, an old guy. I mean, not that I mean anything by that..."
Rowen chuckled. "Yes, I supposed I am just an old geezer. But if this old man still has some fight in him, I'm certain that a young lady as spirited as you can muster enough fight to carry us through tomorrow."
Leia gripped her staff with both hands. "Do you really think we can win?"
"I don't see why not."
"Okay!" Leia nodded and assumed a fighting stance. "Let's practice."
Rowen glanced at the rapidly dimming sky. "It's getting late," he said.
"Then that means we better hurry up!" said Leia determinedly, brandishing her staff.
"Oh, dear," Rowen sighed, but pulled out his weapon.
(To be continued)
Author's notes:
Hey, how's it going. I actually started writing this almost a year ago, after beating Tales of Xillia. Now that I've beaten Tales of Xillia 2, I'm back in the swing of things (I think)! Since I wrote this entire chapter so long ago, I don't really have any comments on the writing process or anything that went in it. Except for I think I was inspired by the fact that so much happens in Xian Du...it just really seems like I ended up there a lot. Hence the opening line.
And just to be clear, it takes place right before the final battle, and right after everything that happens in Xian Du with Isla and Lutecia.
This fic is gonna bounce its POV a lot, so expect to hear a bit from everyone in the party. Also, some familiar faces from unexpected places. This is the coliseum in a Tales game, after all ;)'
Edit: now with page breaks! Thanks, , for taking out all the lovely lines I had in when I imported it. Hopefully it'll be easier to read now!
